He battled with an addiction to drink and prescription drugs but had been sober for many years.

He recently thanked his family – wife Vicky and children Lillian Jean, Toni and Christopher – for making his life stable.

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Chris Connell and drugs

Chris started dabbling with alcohol and drugs at the age of 12, having grown up in a neighbourhood awash with heroin, pot and pills. He once described himself as a "daily user" at 13 before quitting drugs at 14.

He watched friends and other musicians die as a result of their drug use, including his own roommate Andrew Wood of Seattle-based rock band Mother Love Bone. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1994, Chris said he couldn't bear to listen to any of the songs penned by his friend for two years after his death.

"It's sort of a morbid exchange when somebody who is a writer like that dies, and then everyone starts picking through all their lyrics," he said, 23 years before his own death.

But it wasn't until 2002 when Chris decided to seek help and enrolled himself in rehab to battle his demons.

"I really had to come to the conclusion, the sort of humbling conclusion that, guess what, I'm no different than anybody else, I've got to sort of ask for help," he later told Launch in 2007.

Chris during Audioslave in concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 2005 (Image: WireImage)

The rocker gave up his prescription pill and alcohol addiction in 2002 (Image: WireImage)

"Part two of that is, like, accept it when it comes and, you know, believe what people tell me. And trusting in what I have been told, and then seeing that work."

He later spoke about the glorification of drug use, especially when it comes to celebrities, telling one interviewer that normal people who die every day of overdosing never get talked about.

"It's a shame that famous people get all the focus, because it then gets glorified a little bit, like, 'This person was too sensitive for the world,' and, 'A light twice as bright lives half as long,' and all that. Which is all bulls**t. It's not true."

Chris Cornell's charity work

Chris was devoted to his family - wife Vicky, daughters Toni (left) and Lilian (right), and son Christopher (Image: Rex Features)

Chris said his family stablised him (Image: Rex Features)

Chris with baby Tony in 2005 (Image: Rex Features)

After finding success with Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog - the supergroup he formed with members of Pearl Jam - and Audioslave, Chris turned his attention towards charity.

In 2012, he and his wife set up The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation, which advocates for vulnerable children and works alongside other organisations to raise awareness and support for those facing homelessness, poverty, abuse and neglect.

Soundgarden's current tour coincided with the National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which Chris and his foundation supported by giving away a custom-designed guitar that had been autographed by the whole band.

Chris was devoted to his charity work, in particular helped vulnerable children (Image: Getty)

Chris was also involved in the recent Hollywood movie The Promise, which throws light on the Armenian Genocide and was supported by Kim Kardashian and Cher. He penned a song - also The Promise - for the film and donated all proceeds from the single to the International Rescue Committee.

"This movie's a great opportunity to tell a story that needs to be told, to help engage the healing of something that happened at a specific time and place, but it also remind us that it's happening now and reminds us what to look for," he told Rolling Stone in April this year.

Just a month before his tragic death, Chris flew out to Greece to visit a refugee camp.